Tala Al-Abdullah’s Story: “I Wanted Her to Make It Out, Even Without Me”

Waad al-Abdullah is a mother from As Suwayda, and Tala was her only child, her entire world.

On Monday, 14 July 2025, heavy gunfire and shelling shattered the night around the al-Qal’ah housing complex, where the family lived. Waad stayed inside with Tala, her mother, her brother and his family, along with three other families sharing their shelter. Escape was impossible. She whispered to herself,

“Whatever God has written for us will happen.”

By Tuesday morning, a rocket struck the neighboring building. Glass shattered everywhere, parked cars caught fire, and shells began raining down around them. Waad reached out to her ex-husband’s family in the village of Hout, who reassured her that conditions were safer there. She weighed her options and decided,

“My daughter’s life matters more than mine. I wanted her to make it out, even without me. I thought I was helping her escape death, never imagining death would follow her on the road.”

At 10:00 AM on Tuesday, 15 July, eleven-year-old Tala boarded a crowded minibus with her grandmother and cousins. As they traveled along the As Suwayda-al-Kafr road, a shell struck the vehicle directly ahead of them, and sniper fire erupted. A stray bullet pierced her grandmother’s shoulder and struck Tala in the head. Of everyone packed inside that minibus, Tala was the only one killed.

When the news reached Waad at home, she was trapped. The shelling was relentless, roads were blocked, and no vehicles were moving. She called everyone she knew, desperate to find a safe route to see her daughter, but no one could help. She waited in agony until 5:00 AM the following morning, when a young man finally risked taking her to Salkhad National Hospital. There, in the morgue’s cold storage, she found her daughter.

Waad says,
“She was my only child, the only thing I won in this world. May God grant me patience equal to the depth of my love for her.”

She fondly remembers Tala,

“She was an innocent, gentle, and bright soul. A smile never left her face, and everyone loved her.”

On the day of the mourning gathering, strangers flooded the room, teachers from her school and institutes, classmates, friends, and their parents. They had all come for Tala.

Meanwhile, Tala’s grandmother suffered severe injuries. Having recently survived a heart attack and battling asthma, she was in a precarious condition. Yet, because hospitals were overflowing with the wounded, Waad had to discharge her right after Tala’s funeral so Waad could nurse her at home.

Waad concludes,

“I want the world to hear this: We are human beings… What crime did these children commit? Children who have barely seen life. They have broken the hearts of every mother in this country.”

This narrative is based solely on the personal testimony of Waad al-Abdullah, Tala’s mother.